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AIDS 2014 - Stepping up the pace

published on July 20, 2014

July 20 to July 25

The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS is at AIDS 2014, the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia. Check back here daily from for the latest information from the conference, including news, presentations, and more. And follow us from the conference on Twitter @BCCfE.

"It's like there's this glass ceiling": Exploring the benefits and tensions of operationalizing the meaningful involvement of women living with HIV/AIDS (MIWA) in the design and delivery of HIV/AIDS services".

"Cohort profile: the comparative outcomes and service utilization trends (COAST) study - a comparison between HIV-positive individuals and a random sample of the general population of British Columbia, Canada 1996-2010"

News

Dr. Julio Montaner interviewed at AIDS 2014 on the new strategy for for combatting HIV/AIDS called “90-90-90.”

By 2020, the aim is to have 90 per cent of all people living with HIV to be aware of their status, 90 per cent of those diagnosed with HIV will receive regular antiretroviral therapy, and 90 per cent of people being treated will have lasting viral suppression.

New GSHI-led publication featured in The Lancet Special Issue on HIV & Sex Work launched at AIDS 2014 Conference

UNAIDS Situation Room

Bill Clinton speaks at the movement of the AIDS 2014 conference in Melbourne, Australia.

Queensland Partners With Leading Canadian Hiv Experts In An Australian First

In yet another landmark announcement made during the AIDS 2014 conference, the Queensland Government has revealed they are joining forces with leading international experts from Canada to build their efforts to end HIV.

The Australian first will see a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Queensland Health Department, HIV Foundation Queensland (HIVFQ) and the British Columbia Centre for Excellence (BC-CfE) in a combined effort to reduce transmission of HIV in Queensland.

The MoU was signed this morning by Queensland Health Minister Lawrence Springborg, HIVFQ chair Dr Darren Russell and BC-CfE Director Dr Julio Montaner at the 20th International AIDS Conferecne in Melbourne.It will see the development of a partnership to enable a HIV treatment as prevention (TASP) strategy to be delivered in Queensland.

This particular strategy also allows for HIV antiretroviral therapy to be offered immediately to people living with HIV who are eligible and want to commence treatment.

“Getting people onto HIV treatment early also decreases HIV transmission and new cases of HIV,” Dr Russell said.

“As part of the strategy, we are committed to achieving increased treatment uptake. We are aiming for 90 per cent of people living with HIV to be on treatment.

“The foundation is also really keen to work with partners and key stakeholders to promote the TASP strategy in Queensland to ensure we achieve the best possible outcomes.”

Queensland to adopt British Columbia Treatment as Prevention Strategy

The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and the Government of Queensland (Queensland Department of Health) and the HIV Foundation Queensland (HIVFQ) are entering into an agreement through a memorandum of understanding, signed at the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia. The partnership formalizes a collaboration aimed at supporting HIV positive individuals and at risk populations in Queensland and British Columbia. Queensland will formally adopt the made-in-BC HIV Treatment as Prevention (TasP) strategy, pioneered by the BC-CfE.

“We are very excited to be collaborating with Queensland, and implementing our made-in-BC Treatment as Prevention strategy,” says Dr. Julio Montaner, director, British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, chair of AIDS Research and head of Division of AIDS at UBC Faculty of Medicine. “This model is based on scientific evidence. We know from the success we’ve had with Treatment as Prevention, it holds the promise of eliminating HIV and AIDS in our lifetime.”

Queensland is the latest international jurisdiction to implement TasP. Panama, China, France, Spain and Brazil have already signed on, and US cities including New York, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. are adopting the Treatment as Prevention model.

The world needs to “scale up” its treatment of HIV – particularly in women and children – to achieve the cherished goal of a generation free of Aids, the former US president Bill Clinton has said.

Speaking at the Aids 2014 conference in Melbourne on Wednesday, he said the world was on a “steady march” to stamp out Aids but, with an estimated 20,000 children a month still being infected and stigma on the increase, much still needed to be done.

More than 2,000 people crammed into the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre to hear Clinton speak, as thousands more watched him from a video feed in other parts of the building.

AIDS 2014 Youtube Playlist

It is with a great pleasure that we invite you to take part in the 8th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention (IAS 2015), on 19-22 July 2015 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This biennial forum is the largest open scientific conference on HIV/AIDS related issues and is expected to gather some 6,000 delegates from across the globe.

IAS 2015 will be a unique opportunity for all those involved in the global response to HIV, including scientists, clinicians, public health experts, community leaders, and media professionals, to meet and examine the latest scientific developments in HIV-related research, and explore how such developments can be realistically applied in implementation programmes.

AIDS 2014 Global Village Highlights

New GSHI-led publication featured in The Lancet Special Issue on HIV & Sex Work launched at AIDS 2014 Conference

A new GSHI-led research paper in co-authourship with researchers and sex workers from the global south and north shows that decriminalization of sex work could prevent 33-46% of HIV infections in sex work across Kenya, India and Canada.

A press conference and major symposia session held today are part of the 20th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2014) in Melbourne, Australia launch of a special theme issue series of The Lancet, the world's leading general medical journal, on 'HIV and Sex Work'. Dr. Shannon and GSHI led the first paper in the series in co-authourship with 11 researchers (including GSHI's Dr. Shira Goldenberg, Dr. Kathleen Deering, and Putu Duff) and sex workers from the global south and north.

At the 20th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2014) in Melbourne, Australia, The KAPs Advisory Group and TasP Advisory Group collaborated to produce three important publications, released at AIDS 2014: a White Paper entitled 'Maximizing the benefits for Antiretroviral therapy for key affected populations'; a 'Guidance Note' for HIV healthcare providers on the use of antiretrovirals for prevention; and a 'Code of Conduct for HIV and Healthcare Professionals'. A shorter version of the White Paper was also published online, as a Commentary in the Journal of the International AIDS Society (JIAS).

GSHI's Director Dr. Kate Shannon is a member of the KAPs Working Group that worked on the White Paper, while the Guidance Note and Code of Conduct were a result of the efforts of the TasP Advisory group, with input from the KAPs Advisory Group. These publications form part of the IAS 'Nobody Left Behind' campaign, which "aims to inform society that people living with HIV and the populations at highest risk (KAPs) of becoming infected with HIV are sadly those still beyond the reach of traditional health services.”

Watch the opening session of the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Austrailia

Sir Elton John welcomed visitors and showed a preview of the VOA documentary about stigma

Today at the International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Sir Elton John welcomed visitors and showed a preview of Voice of America premiered AIDS: Living in the Shadows, a documentary exploring how stigma interferes with AIDS treatment and prevention around the world. There was a panel discussion following with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Julio Montaner, Dr. James McIntyre, and Ifeanyi Kelly Orazulike.

Aids conference pays tribute to Malaysia Airlines victims

Aids 2014 symposium in Melbourne honours six experts killed when MH17 flight shot down over Ukraine

A minute's silence is held for the victims of flight MH17 during the Aids 2014 symposium in Melbourne on Sunday night. Photograph: Graham Denholm/Getty Images

She was one of several high-profile delegates to deliver powerful speeches in tribute to the six conference-bound researchers and advocates killed when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine.

Delegates from the organisations representing those killed gathered behind her on stage as silence filled the room of 12,000 people attending the opening ceremony.

Melbourne Declaration - Nobody Left Behind

Join the BC-CfE in signing the official declaration of this year’s conference.

“We therefore call for the immediate and unified opposition to these discriminatory and stigmatizing practices and urge all parties to take a more equitable and effective approach through the following actions:

Governments must repeal repressive laws and end policies that reinforce discriminatory and stigmatizing practices that increase the vulnerability to HIV, while also passing laws that actively promote equality.

Decision makers must not use international health meetings or conferences as a platform to promote discriminatory laws and policies that undermine health and wellbeing.

The exclusion of organisations that promote intolerance and discrimination including sexism, homophobia, and transphobia against individuals or groups, from donor funding for HIV programmes.

All healthcare providers must demonstrate the implementation of non-discriminatory policies as a prerequisite for future HIV programme funding.

Restrictions on funding, such as the anti-prostitution pledge and the ban on purchasing needles and syringes, must be removed as they actively impede the struggle to combat HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and hepatitis C among sex workers and people who inject drugs.

Advocacy by all signatories to this Declaration for the principles of inclusion, non-criminalization, non-discrimination, and tolerance.

In conclusion we reaffirm our unwavering commitment to fairness, to universal access to health care and treatment services, and to support the inherent dignity and rights of all human beings. All people are entitled to the rights and protections afforded by international human rights frameworks.

An end to AIDS is only possible if we overcome the barriers of criminalization, stigma and discrimination that remain key drivers of the epidemic.”

25 Years: Remembering Vancouver 1996 and the Treatment Revolution

Statement of Condolence on the tragic crash of flight MH17 and loss of Dr. Joep Lange

The BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS is shocked and saddened at the tragic news of the crash of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, we offer our thoughts and prayers to the families and friends whose loved ones died on this flight. We are particularily stricken by the loss of our friend and colleague, Dutch HIV and AIDS Scientist Dr. Joep Lange and other attendees to the International AIDS Society’s 20th Annual conference in Melbourne, Australia.

“This is not only a huge loss for HIV and AIDS research, Joep was a dear friend, an esteemed colleague, a mentor, a leader and a hero in the field of Global Health, well beyond HIV and AIDS, says Dr. Julio Montaner, Director of the BC-CfE, Chair in AIDS Research and Head of Division of AIDS in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC. “We collaborated closely for many years in the global fight against HIV and AIDS. His research and his friendship will be deeply missed.” Dr. Montaner and Dr. Lange both served as IAS Presidents.